


Rule Eight

by helsinkibaby



Series: Key to an Open Door [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Season 15 rewrite, season 15 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 09:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16427096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: After Gibbs gets back from Paraguay, Ellie has something  to tell him.





	Rule Eight

**Author's Note:**

> For fictober , day 17 “I’ll tell you but you’re not going to like it” 
> 
> A sequel to “The Key to an Open Door”

Ellie’s spent the last two months as team leader, split her time between working their actual cases and exhausting every lead they can find on their two missing team-mates. She’s given the orders and she’s signed the paperwork and she’s had the sleepless nights. But not once in those two months does she realise how heavy the weight of it all lies on her shoulders. 

Not until Gibbs and McGee are back home and Gibbs hugs her and with that one gesture, just like that, the weight lifts completely. 

“You kept the team together,” he whispers to her. “I’m proud of you, Bishop.”

She swears she will not cry. She will not. 

“I just did what I thought you’d do,” she tells him and it’s the truth. Every decision she had to make over the last couple of months, every single one, had been made through the filter of “What Would Gibbs Do?”

Well. 

Apart from one. 

She bites her lip as the thought occurs to her, loosens her hold on him and steps back. Something of her thoughts must show in her face because Gibbs cocks his head to one side. “Bishop?”

Ellie takes a sharp breath in, lets the words come as she exhales. “There’s something I should tell you, something you need to know...” She stops herself, clenches her jaw shut. For one thing, the man’s just arrived back on US soil after two months of captivity in Paraguay. For another, Nick’s going to want to be there with her when she tells Gibbs - one of the conversations they did manage to have over the last couple of months had led to the agreement that Gibbs probably wasn’t going to be happy about them being back together and that they should face the music together. “You know something? It can wait.”

Gibbs narrows his eyes, gives her that flinty gaze of his and she almost bursts into tears again because she’s missed it so much. “Spit it out, Bishop.”

She presses her lips together, knowing she’s brought this on herself. “I’ll tell you, but you’re not going to like it.” He widens his eyes in silent prompt. “Nick and I... we’ve... um... we’ve reconciled. Or we’re reconciling, it’s kind of a work in progress at the moment. And I know when he joined the team that you knew about us and I know I said it was in the past and I thought it was, Gibbs, I did. And I know about Rule Twelve and I understand if you don’t want us on the same team any more... but I love him, Gibbs. I have always loved him. And we are both committed to making it work; us, the team, everything...”

Her voice trails off when she sees the tiny smile playing at the edges of Gibbs’s lips. When he actually speaks, her jaw drops open. 

“Took you long enough.” 

It’s her turn to narrow her eyes as the penny drops. “You knew?” 

Gibbs lifts one eyebrow. “Bishop, I called that in the first five minutes of seeing you two together.” She opens her mouth to protest but he doesn’t let her. “And I know it’s not going on for that long.” A pause. “McGee’s wedding, am I right?” 

He’s dead on the money and her cheeks flame scarlet. She doesn’t say a word, she doesn’t have to. She looks down, waits for the inevitable explosion, so she’s surprised when Gibbs’s hand on her shoulder is gentle, almost fatherly. 

“There is Rule Twelve, Bishop,” he says quietly. “But there’s also Rule Eight.” 

It takes a second for it to click, and when it does, a lump rises in Ellie’s throat. “You don’t waste good.” 

“Or second chances.” Gibbs squeezes her shoulder. “We’ll need to talk. Work out some ground rules. But that’ll keep.” 

It’s hard to know if he was going to say something else or not because he stops talking once Ellie hugs him. Which might not be the most professional of moves, she knows, but she figures she’ll blame it on the relief and happiness both of having him back and his reaction to her news. “Thanks, Gibbs,” she says and this time, her eyes are damp. 

Gibbs doesn’t seem to care though, or even notice. “Everyone was going to McGee’s,” she says. “Are you coming?” 

He nods. “You go on. I’ll see you there later.” She’s about to ask if he’s sure but he shrugs, gives her a smile. “You can tell Nick I’m not coming for his badge.”

The joke relaxes her, makes her chuckle. “I’ll see you later.” 

She grabs her bag, turns to check on him before she heads for the elevator, sees him sitting at his desk, staring at all the paraphernalia he’s accumulated over the years. She takes a mental snapshot, stores it in her memory, because for a while there, she thought she’d never see it again. 

Then, still smiling, she heads for the elevator, to McGee’s house, where Nick is waiting for her.


End file.
